Sky Striker
| romaji = Sentō | trans = Flash Sword | fr_name = Assaut de l'Air | fr_trans = Air Assault | de_name = Himmelsjäger | de_trans = Sky Fighter | it_name = Assaltatrice del Cielo | it_trans = Sky Assailant | ko_name = 섬도 | ko_romanized = Seomdo | ko_trans = Flash Sword | pt_name = Força Celeste | pt_trans = Celestial Force | es_name = Caza del Cielo | es_trans = Sky Fighter | sets = * Cybernetic Horizon * Soul Fusion * Savage Strike | tcg = * Dark Saviors * OTS Tournament Pack 8 | ocg = * Deck Build Pack: Dark Savers * Tournament Pack 2018 Vol.2 * Sky Striker Ace Duel Set * 20th Secret Rare Challenge Pack * LINK VRAINS Pack 3 * Rarity Collection Premium Gold Edition }} "Sky Striker" ( , Sentō, literally "Flash Sword") in the OCG, is an archetype that debuted in Deck Build Pack: Dark Savers ''and ''Dark Saviors in the TCG. It includes the sub-archetype "Sky Striker Ace". Design Appearance The "Sky Striker" cards are made to look like suits of powered armor (in the case of the "Sky Striker Ace" Link Monsters), or various gadgets equipped to/built-in abilities of said armor, as with the Normal and Quick-Play Spells within the archetype. Most of the cards of the archetype also features some sort of serial numbers carved within them. The "Sky Striker Ace" armor's serial number starts with "X", while the other equipment's serial number (most visible in "Sky Striker Mecha" cards) starts with "S". Etymology The Japanese name of this archetype is taken from the Japanese name of "Sky Striker Ace" monsters, which is a pun. It literally means "Flash Katana Lady", but it is based on the homophonous word for "fighter aircraft", 戦闘機 sentōki. Apart from the "Sky Striker Aces", many members also have their names inspired by a Japanese word that has ki as part of its pronunciation. Playing Style All Sky Striker Spells, with the exception of the Continuous Multirole and Field Area Zero, cannot be activated while you control a Monster in the Main Monster Zones and gain extra effects while you have 3 or more Spell cards in your GY. See the following table: As you can see, these effects are very powerful, allowing the "Sky Striker" player to control the board with ease and dispatch any threat on demand. The search-and-draw power of "Engage!" gives them the ability to repeatedly gain/regain advantage over an opponent and grab any effect needed, responding rapidly to changing Duels in a way few other Decks can match. In addition, the "Sky Striker Ace" Extra Deck monsters can search/recover more "Sky Striker" cards as needed, and typically give the player other bonuses for playing many Spells. They are designed to sit in the Extra Monster Zone without impeding the effects of the Spells, meaning the only off-archetype monsters the Deck plays are usually just handtraps. Of the above Spell cards, the most powerful are generally viewed to be "Widow Anchor" for its massive amount of versatility, effect negation and field control, and "Hornet Drones" for its ability to make the "Sky Striker Ace" monsters for free in any Deck, leading to it being Limited. The other two Spells are designed to add further consistency and recovery. The Field Spell "Sky Striker Airspace - Area Zero" can excavate 3 cards from the Deck and add any Sky Striker card there to the hand by sending a card the player controls to the GY, useful for clearing the Main Monster Zones or loading the GY with unneeded Spells. "Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Multirole" can send a card the player controls to the GY to prevent the opponent responding to Sky Striker Spell Cards/effects for the rest of the turn, which, in addition to the uses mentioned above, can send Area Zero to the GY, triggering its effect to Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace - Raye" from the Deck, and it can Set Sky Striker Spells from the GY to the field in the End Phase up to the number of Sky Striker Spells activated that turn at the cost of banishing them when they leave the field. The overall strategy of the Deck is thus patience, wearing down opponents with repeated disruption and the mass recovery effect of "Multirole", getting in large bursts of damage when the field opens up. Thanks to "Multirole", the Deck has no problems ending every turn with 3-4 Set Spells for disrupting the opponent, which can be mixed in with powerful Traps like "Solemn Strike" and "Infinite Impermanence". As noted, they have no trouble getting a large advantage in cards, the majority of their successful Duels just being converting that into a win with straightforward one-for-one trades. For more information on the monsters, see Sky Striker Ace. Weaknesses The "Sky Striker" Deck utilizes a copious count of Spells, which is this archetype's core tenet. Equally as decisive for this Deck's success is the maintenance of Spell resources and Special Summoning the "Sky Striker Ace" Link Monsters. With all this in mind, there's boundless card counters that can put all these Deck directives in check: * Cards like "Naturia Rosewhip", "Naturia Beast", "Armed Ninja", "Spell Canceller", "De-Spell", "Secret Village of the Spellcasters", "Twin Twisters", "Anti-Spell Fragrance", "Magic Jammer", "Spell Shield Type-8", "Dark Bribe" and "Imperial Order" can slow down or completely stop the activation/effects of "Sky Striker" Spells and other support. Cards that can banish activated Spells instead of sending them to the GY can interdict the stronger effects of the "Sky Striker" Spells. ** Furthermore, while "Dark Deal", "Terrible Deal" and "Curse of Darkness" don't stop "Sky Striker" Spell activations, they all punish the player directly with resource loss and LP damage. Note however, that unless discarded Spells and monsters are banished, they can either be recovered more easily from the GY or the Spell count can accumulate for the stronger effects of "Sky Striker" Spells. * "Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell" can permanently lock a specific Spell from being used for that Duel. This card can be particularly lethal to "Engage!", as this Spell is this Deck's chief searcher. * "Droll & Lock Bird", "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" "Mistaken Arrest", and "Mistake" can stop "Engage!" "ROTA" and "Shizuku" from tutoring resources. Conversely, "Shared Ride" will cause your opponent to gain resources themselves when you do via the said three cards. By a similar token, "Maxx "C"" (OCG only) can also reward the opponent with hand resources via the Summoning of the "Sky Striker" Link Monsters and Tokens, such as a "Sky Striker Ace Token" Summoned through "Hornet Drones". * "Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries" can oust "Kagari", this Deck's main attacking force. * "Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion" and "Called by the Grave" can stop "Raye"'s GY recursion effect. * Cards like "Recall" and "Divine Wrath" can stop "Raye"'s Tributing Quick Effect. * "Spell Absorption" can balloon your LP against the "Sky Striker" player. Finally, without Spells, the "Sky Striker" monsters themselves start with average ATK, and with just five monsters composing the archetype thus far (four being within the Extra Deck) along with many ways to keep the ATK-altering effects of "Kagari" and Shizuku" in check (e.g. cards that banish spent Spells like "Macro Cosmos"), the monsters have issues getting over big monsters. Due to this and with only "Raye" as the only Main Deck monster thus far, "Sky Striker" Decks (namely pure-builds) need to run non-"Sky Striker" monsters to in-part have access to other Extra Deck opportunities (such as generic Rank 4 Xyz Monsters.) Further, "Sky Striker" monsters under a Spell famine are easily picked off via general card effect removal and can also be Tributed or used as Extra Deck material by your opponent. Trivia * This deck is the antithesis of the "Fur Hire" archetype, in many ways: ** This deck's main strategy requires having no monsters in Main Monster Zones to operate, while "Fur Hire" aims to fill their Main Monster Zones instead. ** This Deck was originally composed of only 3 monsters, and 10 Spells, while "Fur Hire" originally had 10 monsters and 3 Spell/Traps in total. (Meanwhile some more "Sky Striker" Link Monsters and a "Fur Hire" Link Monster have been released.) ** This deck has only 1 Main Deck monster, "Fur Hire" has only 1 Extra Deck Monster. ** Both are released in Dark Saviors. ** This relationship mirrors the relationship between the "Magical Musket" and "The Weather" archetype, which were released in Spirit Warriors.